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August 30, 2007

"A Yes or No to a per capita increase is unfair for me to decide because there is not enough financial information to make this decision.

Before our Casino, the BIA did not take care of all tribal members. Tribal members took care of the Tribe and its leaders. Now that we have the Casino many tribal members feel the Nation should be taking total care of them. Untrue, but an elected official will lose public favor if they didn’t service everyone equally. If most tribal members had a non-tribal job then look at the program services savings for other critical projects.

Is the Casino making less money or is the Nation spending more money? And our enrollment increases maybe the reasons for less per capita than we have been receiving. So why ignore this condition before controlling the other failing variables and ruin our only business generating needed income.

Reform of the Nations programs is an administrative duty. The Nation needs to hire only what they can afford and what needs to be done. Policies must be fair and equal but not for total care of person or persons desiring not to work. Family care is a personal responsibility and not the Nations responsibility. Utilizing outside resources must be attempted first before totally relying on tribal resources. We are incurring a growing debt and disabling the family nucleus that should be creating a stronger community.

The Shabbona land purchase was a rushed, political project with no income assurance and was extremely expensive. The Supreme Court Gas tax exemption loss was extremely harmful to our sovereignty and economic future. How many other big projects are using tribal money that provides a community service but no financial return? Most tribal programs are paying money out with no plans for return income. There are no short or long term strategic plans.

Voters are for candidates that will give them the most per capita. Is this what we want? Tribal priorities must be the land, people, language and tradition, without these we would cease to be a sovereign Nation.

Since it appears the Nation is using our money first for federal projects that is their responsibility. Again, we are incurring long-term debt. Apparently, there was perception of unfair and unequal tribal services that called for the per capita increase. If the Casino generated increased income, perhaps the original percentage would have sufficed most. But some want that and more tribal services that also deem unfairness.

There must be a sound, cost effective tribal plan for services. Can there ever be fair or equal services depends on that plan. Where will the funds be taken from if the 48% is approved? We can develop that plan first and then consider a per capita increase. But to approve an increase first and then try to undo it would be political suicide.

We often hear stories how a larger per capita can create more problems than it helps. Without knowing how the increase will affect tribal services and what is the lesser evil here burdens me on an irrational decision."

Thomas M. Wabnum, Age: 57Bureau of Indian Affairs andOffice of the Special Trustee for American Indians, Retired

August 29, 2007

"A chairperson must be a representative of the Nations members and a Diplomat to the rest. We are Prairie Band before Bingo and Casino. Our enrollment doubled so fast that new members don’t know our past or sovereignty. Now we are always thinking per capita like that’s all we know. Now we are divided even more than before. Now we are talking whether your inside or out, full or mixed, who speaks and doesn’t, who lived here and who didn’t. Regardless of opinions it’s the Nations land that we are trying to protect because without it we would be just one of them.

The federal government has never taken care of every tribal member but allowing Nations to have Casinos, our Nation have carelessly committed to that responsibility. That is the hand you are dealt. The federal government has never solved their problems with us but we accepted those services through 638 contracting. Because of inadequate federal budgets, don’t let them walk away free.

Your nature must protect the land, language, people and tradition as leaders did before gaming profits hit our pockets. So with a task so diverse to plot a course we will help you pray for unity.

As Tribal Chairperson would you support:

Updating the Constitution constantly to reflect required changes that strengthens the community, county, state and federals relations without sacrificing our tribal sovereignty?

Amending the Constitution to allow only 1 term of 4 years for tenure of office instead of the current 2 terms of 4 years?

Amending the Constitution to insert the quarterly meetings as law?

Amending the Constitution to have a primary election and then a runoff of the 2 highest voted candidates?

Withdrawing the Tribal Council Resolution PBP No. 2007-047, Civil Procedure, Title 4, As amended, Section 4-13-1. Tortious Interference with a Business or Governmental Relationship?

The separation of powers between the Tribal Council, Administration and the Courts with the General Council being the governing body?

The Executive Director specifically and program directors in general by having them be totally responsible and accountable for enforcing the everyday administrative duties, policies and job duties for each employee instead of this being a General Council issue?

Seeking Line item Veto Power for your position because without it, you can be seen as ineffective by only conducting meetings and voting in case of a tie?

The creation and enforcement of an Ethics Policy overseen by a mixture of tribal members and professional business non-tribal members?

Reform all tribal programs current policies by having public consultations in creating policy and procedures to promote fairness and equality?

The overhaul and reform our Enrollment Program?

Increasing of education and resources into our Language Department?

Presenting an annual Tribal Budget at the last quarterly GC meeting?

An annual financial audit being finalized and presented by the first quarterly GC meeting?

A tribal member hiring policy based on qualifications, education and experience?

The required participation in all local federal servicing organizations supporting the reservation that an adequate budget is proposed and supported by the PBN instead of spending our own money on federal responsibilities?

The required participation in all local state servicing organizations supporting our reservation that an adequate budget is proposed and supported by the PBN?

To re-acquire the Shabbona land title since the Dept of Interior offered to help for free?

The promoting and educating the PB Individual Indians’ land and money business, as it requires in our Constitution? (Article II – Land, paragraph B. Section 2, and subsection a, and paragraph C).

As constitutionally required, to allocate funds for more tribal land acquisition?

More communications to the tribal public by any resources available to you?

Good Luck with any of these questions that you may have to answer. Remember, there are talented and educated tribal members in all fields to ask for their help. We are different than county, state and federal government. We have treaties, sovereignty, language and tradition, Executive Orders, Indian Law, federal trust responsibilities, federal statutes, Supreme Court decisions and a tribal constitution that make us different from the others.

The last bit of advice that I can give you is to learn as much as you can about the10 year- old Cobell v Kempthorne Lawsuit. This lawsuit is about the Individual Indian accountholders, the money generated from their lands for over 120 years and how the Department of Interior cannot account for their money because of a centuries old broken federal system. There are over 2,000 PB accountholders. It also involves trust responsibilities that derive from treaty rights and the slow deterioration of them by our own protector, the federal government.

The most important advice that I can give you is to always speak to the people from your heart and listen to what they have to say and if you don’t, they will know."

August 15, 2007

"The top elected spot in the Prairie Band Potawatomi tribe is up for grabs. The question is who wants to be chairperson. Rumor has it that there is already a petition in the works to oust the new chair. The Prairie Band hasn’t had a chair last a full term in quite awhile. Perhaps as an incentive, a bonus can be paid for lasting a certain amount of time. It could be paid in increments so that if someone lasts four years, they would be rewarded for time served.

Friday is the last day to sign up to run. A cat and mouse game is being played by some. They are waiting until the last minute to sign up. This allows time to size up the competition. The old who else is running, and how would I stack up against them. Fact is anyone has a chance to win. The recycled politicians are foaming at the mouth for another chance to be elected. If you run enough times, sooner or later you will be elected. maybe this time a fresh face will steal the election. Someone new may have a better chance. Some tend to vote for the lesser of the evils. It is not a question of the best qualified for some, it is who will hurt us the least.

Instead of an election, maybe there should be a series of Herculean tasks to perform. This would reveal the tenacity needed to remain in the position. The first labor would be to chair a general council meeting. Then have various members of the audience hurl insults at them for a few hours. The more irrelevant the better, like yo momma so fat that…..

The ones that pass this test then can move on to the next challenge. Have them flash a show of money. This could be in the form of a new car, fixing up the house or traveling. See how they hold up to public scrutiny. If they can’t handle criticism for spending money, they can’t hack it. Everyone complains about money.

Instead of seeking the golden fleece, have the candidates find an new business enterprise for the tribe. One that doesn’t involve gaming. Sooner or later this will dry up. The business must make a profit, most of our businesses don’t. Operate it like a business and not a bureaucracy. If it only feeds itself, it is not a business.

On to the next labor. Have some disgruntled tribal members show up and demand to have their way or else a petition drive will be started. Charges don’t have to be true, just made. The ones that cave in to pressure can not advance to the next task.

The next one is perhaps one of the toughest tests. Tell the candidates that they have unlimited power. See if they can remain humble, or if their egos swell. Many of our past leaders have failed this test. Their heads got so big after they got into office, that their hats wouldn’t fit anymore. A title doesn’t give anyone power. Nor does it command respect. That has to come from the individual.

It is unlikely that such a series of tests would determine our next leader. Being elected won’t either. Unhappy losers can undo the elective process because they want another shot at running again. Especially if they just can't seem to get elected. They won’t accept that the people don’t want them in office.

Good luck to the next chairperson of the Prairie Band. We wish them well. And sincerely hope that they can unite our people instead of drive them further apart. It is very unlikely that they will please everyone. That is the nature of our people. No one can please everyone. We just hope that we can elect someone that will help the tribe and not hinder it. We need capable leaders for our people. Leaders lead. We want good leadership.

Lets hope that voters make a good choice. Examine each candidate. If they haven’t done anything in the past to help us, should we elect them again? Just because someone is new, doesn’t mean that they can’t help us. Let’s hope that more candidates are willing to step forward to give us more choices to vote for. And we should support the people’s choice. If they were elected, that means more people wanted them instead of the other candidates. Let the vote stand. Whether we like them or not, we should support who was voted in."

August 09, 2007

"Well, I guess it pays $$$ to lead a failed recall petition. So far the leaders of the failed recall of our Chair have received the following benefits, Badger got his referendum on the Special election Ballot earlier than planned and Rencie got a "cushy" customer service job at the casino... umm guess it pays off to participate in Mamie/Rey's and the tribal council's dirty work."

July 27, 2007

"It is very easy to judge the hearts of Rey, Nabbie and Ryan, because they don't come to work and yet take all the perks and money afforded by their position. What conclusion can we draw about their ethics? Like I said in the council meeting, if I didn't go to work and do my job I would be fired, why should the standards be any different for the Tribal Council, find me a job that pays you for NOT coming to work. Oops, I guess we found it PBPN tribal council person.

I noticed in your first article that you mentioned you are from the Shabbona area? Maybe you are the journalist that Badger mentioned in his previous comments. The journalist who he threatens have print mine and, my dead mother's letter, that was sent to the PBPN newspaper many years ago. "If this continues to generate mud slinging I would be more than happy to release the two afore mentioned letters to a journalist in the Shabonna area." Badger. This kind of threat just shows what kind of people Badger and Mamie really are. Maybe you are just working for Badger and Mamie. Why else would a self-proclaimed "member of the other America" get involved in tribal business?"

"I do not speak irresponsibly. The minimum prevailing wage in Illinois for a janitor with 6 years of experience is $19.72 per hour. Source: http://www.state.il.us/agency/idol/rates/other/jan/sdupage.htm Without overtime that is $41,000+ for full time work ($19.72 x 2080 hours, 52 weeks times 40 hours). It does not take a lot of overtime at the rate of $29.58 oer hour to get to the $60,000 level and that salary level is not uncommon for supervisors in the government sector. Janitors in the private sector earn considerably less. Non-union private sector even less. I do not like high government salaries and the article I linked to as a sample shows that the county administrator in my county earns $131,000+, got a 26% raise and will get a starting retirement pension of $111,000 per year. I do not think a county administrator has the value par with that of a nation, but that is my opinion, and that is why I believe the tribal council salaries are responsible. I do research before making statements.

There are four people named and accused of less than satisfactory performance. I do not know if those accusations have merit. May I assume that those not named are doing their jobs? Would a unilateral cut, because of the four named, be fair to those who are performing? I think it more fair to deal with those who do not perform or are corrupt than to punish those who serve well because its easier. But, ahhh, yes! Those who serve the people should do so from the goodness in their heart. I think those who judge another's heart should be careful and respectful."

July 26, 2007

"While I am glad that you have had a pleasant experience working with Rey, Ryan, Nabbie and Junior the reality is that they have abandoned their commitment to the tribe in favor of their own selfish needs. Whether it is caused by that heady feeling of power or a misguided attempt to do what they believe is right or even worse perhaps incompetence we will never truly know. What needs to happen is accountability to the people and true commitment to serving the people. Becoming a council member should be considered a calling and not a means to get rich. When Rey, Ryan, Nabbie and Junior do not show up for work, abuse the use of their p-cards and tribal vehicles they are demonstrating to the people that they are not looking out for us and only thinking of themselves. It is true we have a recall process that is reserved for those in government who are corrupt, however in the case of the Tracy it has been abused by a small group of people led by Badger and Mamie. There should be an investigation into the recall itself so we can finally get the truth revealed about how they tricked tribal members into signing their petition and how they were allowed to unconstitutionally fix and re-work their petition after it was submitted and deemed invalid. No one is going to want to run for tribal government with the constant threat led by Badger and Mamie, that they will be recalled because they are not liked by them.

I did some research about your claim that janitors make $60,000 per year, however I found no janitor in the country that makes that much. The highest paid janitor position I could find was an annual salary of approximately $39,000 but the average was between $20,000-$25,000. You can check that out at jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov. I also checked the salaries of other councilpeople around the country, for example a Las Vegas councilperson makes $37,000 a year, Kansas City councilpeople make $50,604 a year to serve a population of 444,387. (you can check this out at seattletimes.nwsource.com there is a chart with the list of the highest paid city council salaries)

Our tribal council makes exponentially more than any other city government in the country, serving a population of less than 5,000. Running for tribal council should be motivated by a true sense of wanting to help people. One of the first steps to helping our people is to show respect to the position that they were elected to: show up for work everyday and not abuse the perks they are generously given. To determine if potential candidates are truly motivated by a sense of duty and service we need to eliminate the lure of high salaries and perks. An accountability program is the first step to insuring the integrity of the tribal council."

"The motivation of this article is solely for the purpose of helping friends. The scope of the word “friends” is inclusive of the Prairie Band people. If I fail to reach my stated objective I hope there are those who will understand that this effort is genuine and in the spirit of friendship.

I publish an online newspaper, of sorts, in DeKalb County, Illinois, once home for Shobney, his wife Pkuknequah (sp) and extended family. I’ve been known to take a rather harsh view of government especially as it relates to compensation and spending (see article).

I consider myself to be personal friends with several members of the PBPN, some of whom I’ve met in person, and some who I’ve conversed with only via Internet. Some of these friends of mine do not appear to be friendly with each other right now, at least from the words I’ve been reading on Larry’s blog, which I think has been serving the need for independent coverage of tribal affairs quite well. But never in any of my experiences or communications with Badger or Tracy ; Thomas or Rey; Jim, Ryan, and Jackie have I ever got an impression that any of them did not have the best interest of the PBPN in mind and as motivation for their actions. But as genuine as my intentions are I’ve often failed to get the job done and I bet that’s true for most of us. So we shouldn’t take it personal if our performance is questioned nor should we question the motivation of others.

As a member of that other America , I applaud and envy the recall effort. It speaks well of your Constitution forefathers. I have a feeling a lot of us American citizens wish we had the ability to recall certain leaders and, through that process, hold them accountable for their performance – nothing personal. So I see your constitutional right for the recall process as the ultimate Tribal Council Accountability Program. But my gal and partner, Gracie, disagrees. She thinks some people are being mean.

The U.S. government, some state governments and a few local units pay some of their janitors more than $60,000 per year. It’s more than I make but if you want the best of your people to serve on your council, perform to the best of their ability and take the grief they’re going to get then I wouldn’t unilaterally cut their pay. That’s punishing the system because, allegedly, a few members are not performing their duties to your satisfaction. Your system addresses that through recall and elections. Use it.

I do think government salaries should be based on the success of the people they represent, however.

There are 9-million tribal dollars invested in Shabbona and unfinished business of historic proportions. There is the historic transition to self determination of your primary revenue stream in Kansas and the looming challenge of state sponsored competition. There are extensive recent capital improvement investments on the reservation that were designed and I’m sure contributing to addressing social, health and education challenges. While it sounds like progress has been made in those areas it does not appear to be finished business.

Where then is there time for perpetuating a house divided?"

PS: I don’t know if this qualifies for Larry’s $5 an article program. If so, Larry, take the $5 and put in a slot machine nearest you. One pull, five bucks. If it’s a grand prize winner, deduct your $5 and send me the change.

July 25, 2007

"Besides being a great way to socialize and meet our friends and family the meeting serves as a time for the Council to hear the People. Many interesting and thoughtful questions were asked by the People, many are suffering from unemployment, homelessness, health care problems, and drug and alcohol abuse; these are issues that should be a critical concern to the Tribal Council. Any member can get a copy of the meeting minutes and read about all the questions and answers. I would highly recommend getting a copy from Jim Potter, the Secretary.

Here are just a few of the interesting questions:

Directed to Dan Kennedy our General Manager for the Casino:"When will they re-open the bingo parlor?""Why are the slots so tight (meaning people were not winning)?"Has anyone won the $15,000 mystery jackpots?""Why are tribal members not able to get jobs in the casino?"

To Ryan, the Tribal Treasurer:In regards to the Shab-eh-nay deal and the "government" house there, I asked who is allowed to use the house?His answer was only tribal members, but I asked, then why was his family (not enrolled members) allowed to stay in the house during the fourth of July holiday parade and a Drum, scheduled to be in the parade and was made up of our enrolled members, forced to stay in a hotel at a cost to the tribe of over $4,000 dollars, when they could have stayed at the house for nothing? Ryan gave no explanation. From what I have read on the blog, there are alot of things going on in our government house that are suspicious and we are paying for it, shouldn't there be accountability to the spending of tribal money? Ryan had no explanation again.

Finally, based on the presentation Ryan was giving us regarding our finances and the need to cut spending, and in the interest of creating a government that is accountable to the people, I suggested the following motion:

"A Tribal Council Accountability Program"

All Tribal Council members salary reduced by 25 percent, based on the fact that they do not work full-time hours, frequently miss their own Tribal Council meetings, do not show up for work (dereliction of duties) and are not working on the business of the tribe. Also based on the fact that a measure was passed years ago freezing their salary, in another words they should have never given themselves a raise.

Tribal Council and their assistants must immediately turn over their P-cards this is a system that has allowed them to spend our money without oversight or accountability.

Tribal Council must keep a log of their use of tribal vehicles detailing where they are going, on what tribal business, who they are visiting, and how much time they spend on each trip.

Tribal Council must keep a daily log of their hours working for us, starting with when they arrive to work, who they are meeting with, how long they spend in each meeting, when they leave and come back from lunch and when they leave to go home at the end of the day.

My motion was seconded. The reaction of the Tribal Council was stunned to say the least, but Rey immediately ruled that I was out of order and so I was forced to abandon my motion for now. It was suggested, by other tribal members, that I put my motion on the agenda for the next General Council Meeting in October. I am definitely considering that option.

One observation I had was that very few young people spoke up or seemed involved in the proceedings. Young people need to speak up and voice their concerns, they shouldn't be afraid to share their opinions. Casino employees were also too quiet, they need to speak up and voice their concerns about what they see happening in their community. They should not fear retaliation, that is against the law. I would challenge young people and the casino workers to visit the government center, see what your elected officials are doing. Most importantly, attend the next General Council Meeting, speak up for what they believe is right and implement change and accountability in our government. The meeting adjourned and we headed out to the Kickapoo Powwow, we saw many of our tribal members enjoying the Kansas heat, dancing and eating fry bread. That night we had a meal with our relatives and caught up on what's happening in their lives. It was good to see them and re-connect.

The next day, having re-connected with family and made new friends, I left the reservation with a bittersweet feeling. I am beginning to understand the "pull" that my grandmother once felt but could not explain, the desire to embrace your ancestors and their way of life in this beautiful countryside, but knowing that your family across the country needed you more. Wanting to be on land that is so flat that you feel you are at the edge of the earth and that at any moment your next step would be into a breath-taking array of the known and unknown. But always the hesitation that pulls you back, and back into the reality of your familiar life that lies miles away. What reassures me is that I can always return and be at that edge of the earth, that the reservation or our land as we know it will always be there. I know we have so much dissension in our tribe but our common goal is the improvement in the lives of all our people, we have so much work to do and I will be back to make sure that happens. I hope to see all of you there too!"

July 24, 2007

"I had the wonderful opportunity to visit our Reservation to attend the General Council meeting. It was a time to see the progress the reservation has made serving the needs of our people. I enjoyed seeing the buffalo, the state-of-the-art facilities such as, the boys and girls club, computers, health center, fire station. We should all be proud of our accomplishments because many of these services rival the ones we see in our own hometowns off the rez. I was very grateful to re-connect with extended family members, who were so warm and welcoming. We even had a chance to visit the Kickapoo Powwow, with all the great fry bread, dancers and friendly faces. I would have to admit that my attention was directed to Saturday's General Council meeting and as a tribal member who finds it financially difficult to attend these quarterly meetings, I would highly recommend saving up any money you can to travel and be there for these important meetings. There were several discussions and presentations that occurred during the meeting that as tribal members we should be aware of and be able to give our input on. The following are a few of the many highlights of the meeting: The resignation of our Chair was briefly and awkwardly discussed by Rey, who seemed unsure of himself and lacked any knowledge of how to conduct a meeting. We later learned that this awkwardness was based on the fact that he never attends council meetings, missing 7 of 15 meetings during the last three months. Junior, Nabbie and Ryan did not fare much better on meeting attendance missing 5-6 meetings. Rey and these council people are not attending meetings and therefore do not know enough about the important business of the tribe to coherently explain it to us. On the resignation of the Chair, members of the tribe spoke up and stated to us their dissatisfaction with the Council and the people who led the recall, because we are constantly throwing away good leaders. By the way, when Rey mentioned the resignation of our Chair, Badger, Mamie, Rencie and about two other members who I do not know actually applauded. Many in the meeting openly expressed their disgust with Badger and Mamie's group. It is truly sad that a small group of evil people are allowed to create chaos in our tribe.

The next item on the agenda was to cut the CSP program funding. This program gives people assistance in their time of need and is only available on a first come first serve basis so once the money is used up there is nothing for anyone else, so if you need help, too bad for you. I argued that before we start cutting services to our people we should first cut the spending and extravagances that the Tribal Council enjoys. For example, did you know that each Tribal Council member receives an annual budget of approximately, $100,000 to run their office. From this budget approximately $60,000 is allocated for their salary they gave themselves a raise despite a measured that called for a freeze on their raises. They are given the use of a tribal vehicle at no cost and even worse they have access to P-cards, which is like an open line of money for them to spend on anything they want with no accountability to us about what they are buying. These are some very wonderful perks considering our Tribal Council members, Rey, Ryan, Nabbie and Junior are never in their offices, simply not doing their jobs.And its not that their running around going to meetings or doing other tribal business, no one knows where they are, including their assistants, who are not in their offices the majority of the time either.

I know this because I wanted to see how my government center is working so I visited the center (which I recommend all tribal members do, it is your right) and wanted to meet all the Tribal council people. I was escorted by the Chair who gave me a tour of all the departments and introduced me to some excellent employees who are diligently attending to their jobs. However, none of the Tribal Council was there and this was at 10 am on a Thursday and if their assistants were there, they told us they didn't know where they were, hadn't been in, don't know when they will be in. Tribal Council works for us and yet they are taking us all for a ride, living on our money but doing nothing for us in return. Ultimately, on the CSP funding cuts, they voted to cut the funding, too bad for us if we need help, but the Council still gets to keep all their salary and perks, no questions asked.

Another dumb motion was Tribal Council member Ryan's idea to investigate the formation of an education trust account. My question is who is going to do the study to investigate this formation of the trust, how much is this going to cost, and just how much is Ryan going to benefit from this investigation? When you say you are going to investigate or hire a consultant or review an idea such as this it means we are going to spend alot of our money just to see if this is a good idea. What Ryan gets to do is collect money from these consultants and they wine and dine him and who knows what else to get this consulting fee. Then who or what company is going to manage this trust account, well some bank is going to make alot of money to do that, again our money. So the outcome is that each tribal member gets $5000 for education expenses, is that really a good outcome considering the cost of education, $5000 does not go very far versus the millions it will cost us to manage the trust. Who really wins here people, think about it, the bank does and Ryan. Plus we all should be suspicious about anything Mamie thinks is a good idea as she stated in the meeting, she is the one who brought us THE LIBERTY ALLIANCE disaster that cost our tribe millions. Of course the motion passed by a narrow margin and there goes more of our money down the drain.

There is much more to report so I will continue with Part Two of Journey to the Rez tomorrow."